Flexible shaft-coupling.



K. ALQUIST. FLEXIBLE SHAFT COUPLING-n APPLICATION FILED APR. 2s. 191A.

fll A I' A Patented July 17, 1917.

Inventor-z Kal-I JqldguY/st.,

His tort-A5;Y

\ KARL ALQUIST, SCHIENECTADY, NEW YORK.

FLEXIBLE lSHAFT-GO'UELING. l

lTo all whom t may concern.'

are designed for use in connection with the transmission of large amounts of power between shafts carried in separate bearings. One application of such a coupling is in connecting a prime mover, as a steam turbine, directly to a generator, and I have illustrated and will describe my invention as being so used. It will be understood, however', that this is only by way of example.

As is well known, it is very dillicult, if not impossible, to obtain absolutely exact alinement of the shafts and maintain such alinement under all operating conditions, and for` this reason it is desirable to provide a coupling which is to a certain extent flexible so as to permit, not only a small error in the parallelisms of the two shafts, but also a small relative displacement or eccentricity of the two shaft ends connected by the coupling.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved couplin of this char.- acter which will be suflicient y strong and rigid to transmit very heavy loads and which at the same time will give the desired flexibility.` s

In carrying out my invention I provide a rigid intermediate member or spacer, connected by suitable flexible means to the adjacent shaft en dsto be joined. This interme- 4diate spacer may takevarious forms, but I prefer to form it as a cylindrical member surrounding the adjacent shaft ends, as this permits of the shaft ends being arranged closely together, thereby saving in the total length of the installation. 'Ihe flexible connecting means will preferably comprise flanges carried by the shafts adjacent their ends and tapered so as to give the desired de ee of flexibility.

or a-consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the* accompanying description andl claims a pended thereto.

. Referrlng to the drawing wherein I have illustrated anembodimentof my invention,

Specication of Letters Patent. v

Application led April 28, 1914. Serial No. 834,877.

- looking at the arrangement flanges 14 define the shaft ends and between -Patented July 17, IWW..

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section showing one form of pling joining two shafts; Fig. 2. is a section on line 22, Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a turbogenerator set to which my coupling may be applied. Y

4 indicates a turbine having a thrust bearing as at 5 and driving generator 6. 7 and 8 are the driving and driven shafts respectively spaced apart, as indicated at 9, and sup` my flexible couhaving their adjacent, ends slightly 4 ported in suitable bearings 10 and 11. The

ends ofthe shafts are turned down to form shoulders 12, against which abut the hubs'13 keyed to the shafts and having flanges 14 at their ends adjacent the shoulders.

These flanges are tapered as shown to 've them a certain degree of flexibility. on necting the two flanges is the'intermediate member or spacer 15, here shown in the form of acylinder, surrounding the shaftends between the flanges 14 and suitably connected to them at their outer periphery. This connecting means may take various forms.` I prefer to provide the spacer with flexible flanges 16 similar to the flanges 14 and connected thereto by `bolts as indicated at 17. By this means I obtain an increased degree of flexibilty without having to lmake the flanges 14 unduly large in radial depth. The spacing member will preferably be formed in two parts, connected together as indicated -at 18, the plane of division being between the two shaft ends. This permits readily of aembling and disassembling the coupling. The flanges 14 and 16 are made of sufficient radial depth to give the desired degree of flexibility and in order to limit the rela- .tivemovements of the two shafts suitable coperating stops are provided. In the resent instance the stops are' shown in the orm of projections 19 on the spacer 15 extending between the shoulders 20 on hubs 13 and the rings 2l threaded over the ends of such hubs. Access to the coupling may be obtained by removing the cover plate 22.

It will be noted that the intermediate member or spacer 15 forms in substance a Short shaft section between the driving` and the driven shafts and joined to them through exible connections. One way of is that the the same is the intermediate member or spacer 15. In actual practice, however, it is preferable to attach the flanges to the shaft esv ends by means of suitable hubs in order to obtain the necessary strength and by the arrangement I have shown I accomplish the desired result in the shortest possible space,

thereby saving materially in the total length of the shaft coupling.

This will be apparent when it is noted that the flanges 14 are joined to the shaft at a point close to the bearings 10 and l1, the portion of the shaft projecting beyond the flanges serving primarily as attaching means for thehubs 13. The space between the -two 1. The combination with alined shafts having their adjacent ends spaced but slightly apart, of' a flexible coupling therefor comprising a flange secured to each of the adjacent shafts and spaced from the end thereof, a rigid intermediate member 'surrounding the ends of the shafts between said flanges and spaced therefrom, and flanges on said intermediate member located adjacent the first named flanges and secured thereto at their outer extremities.

2. The combination with alined shafts having their adjacent ends spaced but slightly apart, of a flexible coupling therefor comprisin a flange secured to each of the adjacent s afts and spaced from the end thereof, a rigid intermediate member surrounding the ends of the shafts between said flanges and spaced therefrom, and flanges on said intermediate member located adjacent the first named flanges and secured thereto at their outer extremities, said intermediate member being formed in two parts suitably connected together, the line of division being between the two shaft ends.

3. The combination with alined shafts having their adjacent ends spaced but slightly apart, of a flexible coupling therefor comprising a flange secured to each of the adjacent shafts and spaced from the end thereof, a rigid intermediate member surrounding the shafts, flanges 0n said intermediate member secured at their outer eX- tremities to the outer extremities of the first named flanges, the adjacent faces of said flanges being spaced apart except where fastened together, said intermediate member being also spaced from the shafts, and means forming a stop for limiting the relative movements of the flanges and intermediate member.

4:. The combination with alined shafts having their adjacent ends but slightly spaced apart, of a hub having a flange secured to each shaft end with the flanges spaced back from said ends, a rigid intermediate member surrounding the shaft ends and spaced slightly therefrom, said member being formed in two parts suitably fastened together, the line of division being between the two shaft ends, flanges carried by said intermediate member which are spaced slightly from and connected to the peripheral portion of the first named flanges, and stop means for limiting the movements of the flanges.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of April, 1914.

KARL ALQUIST.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, WILLIAM E. Weisman. 

